Complete thesis - Murdoch University

The formal assessment of the unit was based on group work (three components), and the examwhich modelled previous exams, based on questions that had been used before. In theory itwas possible to compare how well students performed in relation to previous cohorts.Although an exam does not align well with the learning philosophy being applied, it can bestated that the PBL environment did not appear to unduly disadvantage students: Figure7.14 indicates a marked positive shift in student final marks, though the average mark wasFigure 7.15: Raw exam marks for ENG260 2002-2003within the range established by previous cohorts. As Figure 7.15 indicates, the raw exammark shows a bimodal distribution in the number of students achieving within a specificmark range. No correlation was found between articulation status and marks – articulationsstudents did as well as students who had been at Murdoch for their first year. In addition,83% achieved a final mark of 60% or better (which is higher than the class average). However,the strongly discriminating nature of the final exam raises the following questions:1. did the students perceive this style of learning as unsuitable? and2. was the exam format unsuitable for this style of learning?These can be partially answered by looking at the qualitative data collected.One of the final components of the formal assessment was to prepare for a PerformanceReview. As well as some more technically based issues (eg how easy would it be to go to design314